Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



4 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. S-OPER.

BreeohLoading Pire-Arm.

Patented June 14. 1870.

www f R. WISHINGYDN D C 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. SUPER. BreeGh-Loadingfire Arm.

No. 104,223. Patented June 14, 1870.

Rye niza?? 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. SOPER. Breach-Loading Fire Arm. No. 104,223. Patented June 14, 1870.

WILLIAM SOIER., -OF

READING, ENGLAND.

Letters Patent No. 104,223, dated June 14, 1870.

IMPRCVEMENT IIV BREBCH-LOADING- FIRE-ARMS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pari'. of the same.

I, WILLIAM SOPER, of Reading, in the county of Berks, England, gun manufacturer, have invented certain Improvements in Breech-load'in g Fire-Arms, of which the following is a specification.

The said improvements consist, chiefly, in the peculiar combination of parts, whereby the opening of the breech, the cocking of the piece, and the extraction of the empty cartridge-shell are simultaneously elected by one movement ot the hand, without changingdthe position in which the piece is held when being '.lhe breech is closed by a block, which is hinged or pivoted-at one side of the rear of the barrel, and which is raised and turned laterally ou its pivot to open the breech.

The said block is perforated centrally, to receive the firing-pin, which extends through the block with its ends in the proper position for receiving the-`blow of the cock or hammer, and transmitting the same to the cartridge.

The said cock is arranged in combination with a tumbler aud lever, in such a manner that the tumbler and lever always move together, while the cock, which .is drawn back by the tumbler in cooking the piece, will remain in that position when the tumbler ismoved in the opposite direction.

This capability of disengagement from the cock or hammer is liecessary to alloivthe tumbler to be so connected with the breech-block that the breech may be opened and the cock or hammer thrown bac-k to full or half-cocksimultaneously, and that the breech may he then closed without moving the cock.

The hammer is acted upon by an ordinary bent or lit-shaped manspring, connected to the hammer by a. swivel.

The extractor is provided with a hook or claw, which is formed and arranged to catch under the rim gf the cartridge in the charge-chamber.

The -said extractor is attached to a bar, which is tted to slide longitudinally at Ithe bottom ofthe breech-chamber; This bar, through au intermediate lever, is connected with the hammer, and is operated thereby in the proper direction when the hammer is cocked yand released.

The trigger `is arranged below the stock in the ordinary manner, and is constructed to take into notches which are preferably formedon the hammer itself iustead of upon a separate tumbler.

.according to my invention, ,showing the breech closed and the parts adjust-ed for vdischarging the arm.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section oiitlic line A A, iig. 1.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on the liiie B B,

vfig. 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line B B' fig. 1. Figures 5, 6, and 7 are transverse sections on the lines C C, I) D, and E E, tig. 2.

Fics. 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 show the breech oien. A

F igures 7 and 7 show detached portions of lthe said rie.

Figure 8 illustrates a modification of a part'of iiiy improvements.

Like letters indicate. the saine parts throughout the drawing.

The breech-piece or shoe a is a strong metal piece, which, by means of the screw-threads al, or otherwise, is securely united to the barrel b, and is attached to the stock c by. a screw, d, passing through the tail .a2 of the shoe, into the lock and trigger-plate e. v

A recess is formed through this shoe at the rear of the barrel l, to receive the breech-bloclcf, which is pivoted between Vtwo 'cars ai, formed on the side of the slice.

To secure the joint-pin or pivot j" ot' the block in these ears or jaws a3, I form the said pin with a small lateral projection, f2, and in the rear surface of the jaw I it a screw, g, with an eccentric head, y.

Bya halt' turn ot' the screw g the head g is adjusted over or away from the projection f2 on the pin f, thereby securing or releasing the same.

The rear shoulder f* ofthe recess, wherein the breech-block f slides, forms an.abutiiient oi rccoil surface for the said block. i

rlhe face f3 of the bloc-k f, which is in contact with the cartridges, is chambered or grooved, as shown in Iig. 7", in such a manner as to permit the escape, in a vertically-forward directiin, of any gas arising from the bursting of a cartridge at the rear.-

The edge of the block is also grooved atf for the same purpose.

rIhe block f is connected to the loose tumbler h'by a connecting-rod,

lhe upper end of the said rod is inserted in a recess, f5, in the block, and I form, either in the rod i or in the block, an'elo'n'gated eye or slot, through which, andthe sides of the recess f5, a pin, il, is passed.

In the drawing I have shown the slot 7' formed in.

the block f, and the pin i" formed or fixed on the end of the .rod c'.

The lower' end of the connectiiigrod i also carries a pin, i2, which is fitted to workfreely in fan elongated hole or slot, h1, in the loose tumbler h.

By means of these elongated holes or slots j and h', the rodi (though connected to the .tumbler and brccchblock, which move in ares of circles in planes atright angles to each other) is not diverted from a straight line when these parts are moved. I therefore arrange the said rod to work in a guide-way, k, in the shoe, in which guide-way the rod t is so closely. fitted as to prevent the entrance of sand or dust to the lock.

'When it is desired to remove the hammerl and other parts from the lock-box, it is necessary to restrain or hold back the mainspring m, and for this purpose the pins t" or i? may be advantageously used. The said lock-box is constructed with two side plates, ot, projecting from a plate, n, which is secured to the under sidevof the stock c.

These side plates are bored or perforated to receive thetrunnion h2 of the tumbler 71., which is fitted to turn freely therein.

A square hole is formed through the said trunnion to receive the axis. or spindleo of the side lever o, which spindle is preferably formed in one .piece with or solidly upon the said lever, the latter being arranged outside the stock at the right-hand side ofthe breech, as shown in iig. l..

The cock or hammer lis fitted to turn freely uponV the trunnion h2 of the tumbler h, at one sideof the same, Aand is so formed and arranged that, when it` is released from the trigger, its nose or extremity l* will strike fairly the rear end of the firing-pin p, if the parts have been; properly adjusted. l .i

The connection between the cock or hammer l and the tumbler his effected by means of shoulders or projections l2 h3 'on thesaid hammer and tumbler, which projectionsare so formed and arranged that the cock or hammer-Z is raised or forced back when the tnmber is turned haekfbut .cannot be moved in the opposite-direction by the tumbler, which may, thus betnrned-down, with thel block f, to close the breech, while the hammer l is left at either full or half cock, as desired, (see fig. 7

The firing-pin 1) is arranged either longitudinally or obliquely in the block. I prefer to arrange the same longitudinally or in a line with the bore ofthe barrel. .lt is very important that the iiring-pin-should be drawn back within the block' before the latter rises. For this purpose I place inside the block a 'small lever, 171, through one end of which the pin p passes.

The pin il on the end of the connecting-rod is beveled, andthe side of the lever is also beveled or inclined, and the said lever is so fitted in a recess, y", that, as the connecting-rod begins'to rise, and before it raises the block, its pin c" forces backv the lever in its recess, and thus withdraws the pin p within the block. I thus dispense with the use of av spring for throwing backthe firing-pin, and substitute therefor a device which can never fail to act at a critical mo'- ment.

The pinp is passed 4through a nipple, q, screwed in l the rear of the block f, and is formed with a conical shoulder or valve, p2, which, in case of an escape of ,gas at the breech, is forced into contact with a 'correvplates nl at the bottom of the lock, is constructed and arranged to act in combination with peculiarly-formed portions of the cock or hammer, so that the extractor o', as it is drawn back, starts with a slow motion, which is accelerated, andnishes with a jerk.

By this peculiar motion of the extractor, great force may beexerted upon the cartridge-shell in starting it from'the barrel, which forceiis necessary when the to come in contact with the shell is caused, by the explosion .of the otherwise, to stick tightly in the barrel.

The shell being thus started and freed, is, by the accelerated movement of the extractor, jerked or cartridge or ythrown out of the breech. To effect this varying motion of the extractor, I forni the extractor-lever s with a projection, s3, which is arranged in suehfa pojection, l5, on the cock l, as the same is drawn back nearly to the full extent, strikes the saidshort arm s4; `this arm being so much nearer its fulcrum or pivot than the projection s3 on t-he other arm, sof the 1ever, the motion of the latter is Vnecessarily accelerated.

The projection l5 of the cock and this short arm .s4 are so formed and arranged together4 that the said projection acts upon the said arm with an increasing proximity to its fulcrum t, the motion of the arm being th'us accelerated to the end of the saine.

This arm si lies between two jaws, Z415, on the hammer, the lower one l4 of which permits tlre said arln to pass freely downward, but when the exterior side lever o' is released, the said jaw l* strikes theI arm s,

Aand throws the extractor forward into the proper position to again effect the extraction of a shell lying in the charge-chamber.

A projection, s6, on the extracting-lever, is formed projection Z3 on the cock or hammer, to prevent the. falling back of the extractor-bar if the hammer should be let down gently uponthe firing-pin when the piece is held with the muzzle elevated. v

Without this means for securing the said level-some inconvenience might be occasioned by the accidental withdrawal of the unexploded cartridges from the barrel.

The tumbler h, which is connected -to the breechblock f, as hereinbefore described, is formed with'the two notches 1 2, and a small auxiliary trigger, u, is arranged at the side of the main trigger fu, to take into these notches, and thereby prevent theaccidenti-il opening of the-breech and drawing back'of the extraetor.

I may also use a third trigger, w, whiehI have shown in iig. 8,' to render. the piece perfectly secure without setting the hammer at half cock.

This third triggeris pivoted to the trigger-guard at w, andholds the main trigger v with the arm'w", anil the auxiliary trigger u with the other arm, w3.

- .When it is desired to fire the piece, the arm w* is pressed, and the triggers aresimultaneously released.

In this case the notch 1 in the tumbler for the auxiliary trigger n, shown in fig. 4, is dispensed with.

The main trigger?) is also formed with the notch 1r",

.and is-'thns held with perfect security till the trigger w. is operated. The two triggers u c and the extractor-levers are all fitted on one pin, t, which passes through the side plates n1 of the lock.

At the rear of the bottom plate n is a screw, n2, which passes through the said plate into the trigger'-l guard t".

A This screw yn2 holds the. spring lv', which presses the trigg'ers u. c into the notches l, 2, and 3. -The press- Aure of this spring prevents the accidental removal of the pin tfrcm the lock, but if the screw a is taken out and the spring c removed, the pin t maybe re ily withdrawn from the lock. The triggers then fall out, and, if the mainspring m or secured with the connecting-rodi, y of the pins thereon between the sprir plate, the cock l, and tumbler h, and the other parts of the lock may be removed without the aid of any tools or implements, the trigger-guard being also released by the same operation.

Then the firing-pin p extends through the block longitudinally, or in a line with the barrel, as shown in the drawings, thecock or hammer Z must project up through the center of the breech-shoe into the proper position to act on the said pin.

The lock-plates nl, shoe a, and lstock c, are secured together by the screw y, which is arranged at the rear of the barrel, as shown.

This screw passes through a block, nspwhich connects the side plates u* of the lock, and whereon the extractor-bar 1 slides.

By this meansl prevent any possibility of the springng'of the said extractor away from the cartridge-shells when the same are to be extracted from the barrel, or being blown away by the bursting of a cartridge.

I prefer that the barrel of my improved tire-arm should be ried in such a manner as to leave small ribs or lands projecting inside the bore, s o as to obtain the desired rotation of thev projectile with the least amount of friction thereon, and so that the said projectile may leave the barrel with its cylindrical form but very slightly changed.

1. The combinationof the breech-block, the cock or hammer,and the extracting devices, together, and with the rod i and side lever o for operating the same,

substantially inthe manner set forth, so that the breech is opened, the piece cocked, and the cartridgeshell extracted by one movement of the hand, without changing the position of the piece.

2. The peculiar combination. andai-rangement of the tumbler' and cock or hammer, and the operating side lever o, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

3. Connecting the breech-block and tumbler together by means of the rod i, and the pins and slots which allow the said block and tumbler to'move freely in their respective planes while the said rod works in a closely-tting guide, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The con'ibinationwith the firing-pin p and the connecting-rod t, of the small withdrawing-lever p, operating substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

5. The combination of the extractor with the lever s and the cock or hammer Z,y constructed as described, whereby the said lever has its motion accelerated from the beginning to the end of its throw, substantially as and 'for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination of the triggers 1ll and 1f with each other and with the tumbler' h and hammer l, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

XV. SOPER. [L s] Witnesses M. WYNN,

H. I. GEDGE. 

